John Howard curates exhibition on Robert Menzies at Old Parliament House

Ross Peake

The hand-held Kodak camera used by home movie enthusiast Sir Robert Menzies will be the first item seen by visitors to a new exhibition at Old Parliament House.

Nearby is the wooden desk used by Menzies and a dozen other Australian prime ministers. The desk was at the centre of a minor controversy when John Howard had it hauled to his office in Parliament House.

The exhibition about Australia's longest-serving prime minister is being staged to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Menzies' first prime ministership, from 1939 to 1941.

What is remarkable about the exhibition, which opens on Wednesday at the Museum of Australian Democracy, is that Mr Howard is the guest curator.

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He has posted notes around the walls, giving his reflection on events during the Menzies era.

Mr Howard, who is the nation's second longest-serving prime minister, is writing a biography on Menzies.

Museum director Daryl Karp said the home movies made by Menzies were remarkable.

"I come from a television background and I am absolutely amazed and impressed at Menzies' skill with the camera; the framing, the choice of shots, the camera moves, the stability, it's almost professional, it's really, really impressive," she said.

Ms Karp said Mr Howard had a significant connection to Old Parliament House.

"I almost feel like he's the patron of it in that he was the one who committed to keeping it as the museum," she said.

"The vast majority of Australians can remember him being in power and the decisions that were made, so he brings this living perspective, a perspective that is really connected to our living memory.

"He has brought a wonderful personality to the exhibition. With every label, you can capture something; a nuance of both Menzies the man and John Howard the biographer, the curator, the politician."

Executive curator Rachael Coghlan said it was believed to be an Australian first for a former prime minister to curate an exhibition for a national cultural institution.

"We just felt there were so many wonderful opportunities to bring John Howard's perspective, reflections and thoughts on Menzies' first prime ministership," she said.

"He was just a delight to deal with; he was very gracious."

Ms Karp said the desk was installed when the building was constructed.

"When John Howard was here for the Constitutional Convention [in 1998], he saw the desk and it went up to Parliament House," she said.

Ms Coghlan said the desk had a wonderful legacy after being used by successive prime ministers.

"We asked Mr Howard, in curating the exhibition, to select a number of key objects that would tell the story of Menzies' first prime ministership and I hazarded a guess the desk would be the first object he selected, and he did," she said.

"It obviously has a very personal meaning for Mr Howard."

Visitors will be able to read Menzies' diaries at the exhibition.

"There was incredible candour with the way Menzies shared his reflections in a way that I wonder if prime ministers would do nowadays," Ms Coghlan said.

"At the same time, Mr Howard has been incredibly generous with his time and insights."

She cited the parallel between Menzies' troubled first term and Mr Howard's return from defeat as opposition leader to become prime minister.

"He shone a light onto Menzies that possibly no one else could have," she said.